


Relapse

by AwesomeFox99 (KhaosKyuubi)



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Male Character, Drama, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Eventual Smut, F/M, Past Drug Addiction, Past Drug Use, Police Procedural, Prostitution, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2020-10-28 08:23:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20775488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KhaosKyuubi/pseuds/AwesomeFox99
Summary: After a Traffic Stop puts Nick and Judy on the trail of a brewing Ketamine epidemic, Nick is forced to confront his past. He has to tread carefully, or he might just lose everything he holds dear.





	1. Just Another Day

Nick looked to his left, at the bunny driving the unmarked detective car that they were using. They were on their way to work. Not for the first time, he wondered how he had gotten so lucky. If someone had told the Old Nick that one day, a police bunny would come crashing into his life like a furry, gray missile and that she would drag him on an adventure that would end with them taking down two corrupt mayors, becoming the best of friends, and him becoming a cop, he would have laughed. And if that same person had told him that he would fall muzzle over footpaws for that same bunny and that they'd become much more than just friends, he would have backed away slowly and advised them to get serious psychiatric help.

And yet, here he was. A police detective, working with Judy Hopps, his partner of three years, and his girlfriend of just over a year. He couldn't believe it sometimes, how everything had ended up. 

"Something on your mind?" Asked Judy, noticing Nick's gaze.

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Just taking in the prettiest view in all of Zootopia," he flirted. Nick watched as Judy turned her eyes back to the road and blushed in response to his comment. He loved that he could still make her do that.

"Oh? So that's all I am, just a pretty face?" She teased. "I see how it is." She grinned, satisfied at her comeback as she slowed the car to a stop at a red light.

Nick was glad that the car was stopped. Now he could open up with both barrels on her. He would teach his bunny not to sass the sass master. He gave a quick glance at the radio to make sure that it wasn't transmitting. "Oh, it wasn't your face I was looking at," he grinned. "My muzzle wasn't buried in your face last night."

Judy's ears shot straight up at what he said. Her paws flew to her muzzle and clamped her mouth shut, and her eyes went wide. 

Nick started to laugh at her embarrassment. "Carrots, if you're going to hit the king, you'd better kill the king."

Judy started laughing with him. "You jerk!" She scolded between laughs. "I can't believe you just said that!"

Nick smiled at her. "What can I say? I am a fox through and through. No matter how evolved I get, I suppose wanting to eat some bunny buns is just in my nature," he teased.

Judy's blush deepened to the point that Nick was sure it was a full-body blush. "Stop!" She pleaded. "Come on."

Before Nick could fire again, the light turned green. Judy took her foot off the gas, but before they could get into the intersection, a car blew by them, clearly running a red light, and most certainly going way over the speed limit. Nick and Judy shared a nod and took off after. Nick switched on the lights and siren while Judy gunned the engine, honking the horn and taking off after the car.

***

Inside the car, two young mammals were freaking out. The driver, a panther, had the pedal pressed to the floor. His eyes darted between the road and his passenger, a gazelle. Neither of them could have been much older than eighteen.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Screamed the panther as he saw the lights come on behind him. "We just blew by some fucking cops!"

His partner didn't quite respond. "Just fucking drive! It fucking hurts!" The young gazelle was grabbing his arm and was clearly in terrible pain. "Just get me to the fucking hospital!"

"What if they can help, though?"

"Not with the stuff in the trunk! Too dangerous!" He roared. He gave another pained groan. "Just lose them! If we get to the hospital, they'll back off!" He had no idea if that was true or not, but he was in way too much pain to care.

The panther grimaced. This was so risky, but his concern for his friend outweighed everything else. He growled in frustration and kept driving.

***

"Dispatch, this is Car Zulu-one-one-three," said Nick as Judy drove after the speeding vehicle. "We have a reckless driver going at least sixty in a thirty zone, traveling north on Savannah Avenue, please advise."

It didn't take long for Clawhauser to answer. "Ten-four, Zulu-one-one-three," he replied. "Backup is en route, just stay on them and keep us informed."

"Roger that, Dispatch," replied Nick. He hung up the radio. "Never a dull moment, huh, Carrots?" He asked.

"Got that right, Slick." She pressed on the gas harder. "There are too many pedestrians around for a PIT maneuver. We need to cut them off before someone gets hurt.""

"Zulu-One-One-Three, this is Dispatch, We have officers en-route to intercept, please confirm the location of perpetrators."

"Still Northbound on Savannah Avenue," replied Nick. "Will update you if they change."

"Ten-Four, One-One-Three, Officers from Precinct ten are going to try and get ahead of them to lay down spikes."

"Ten-Four, Dispatch," replied Nick. "We'll keep on them."

***

"Fuck, Man! I can't lose them!"

"We're a few minutes away from the hospital," groaned the gazelle. "Just… please… It hurts so bad…"

Before the panther could respond, he heard a series of pops and the car shook. He looked back ahead and saw a row of police cars cutting off the road ahead. Then he looked down at the speedometer and saw that he was rapidly losing speed. "FUCK! I think they took out the tires!" He tried to get around them, but lost control of the car and crashed into a lamp post. Luckily, they had lost a lot of speed by this point. The airbags deployed and he slammed muzzle-first into the bag.

The gazelle next to him gave a sharp gasp in pain as his arm was jostled from the impact, and then a loud, pitiful moan. 

The panther shook his head to clear it, and then looked towards the window of his car. Several officers were closing in. He knew that it was over.

***

Nick and Judy watched as the car they were chasing drove over the road spikes and crashed into a telephone pole. Nick grabbed the radio again. "Dispatch, the vehicle had crashed. Please send EMTs."

"Roger, putting in the call now," responded Clawhauser.

"Ten-Four." Nick hung up the radio and stepped out of the car with Judy. They took a moment to survey the scene, made sure it was safe to approach. The officers were already pulling the spikes off of the road. The car was severely damaged, and the impact had made the trunk pop open. Nick looked at Judy. "Shall we see what had them in such a hurry?" He suggested.

Judy checked her watch. "We have time," she replied. 

The two of them approached the crash and saw a panther being taken out of the car. He was clearly distressed.

"Sir, what's going on?" Asked Judy. "You were going over double the speed limit. You had better have a good explanation."

"I was trying to get my friend to the hospital!" He replied. "His arm's all fucked up!"

"Be that as it may, that does not grant you permission to break the law."

While Judy talked with the panther, Nick saw a gazelle getting out of the car. He looked like he was in pain, and was holding his arm, trying not to move it. "Keep talking to this guy, Hopps, I'll go and see what's up with his friend."

Judy nodded and kept talking to the panther.

Nick approached the gazelle. "Going somewhere?" He asked. "You might not have been the driver, but according to your friend, you need medical attention. We have an ambulance on the way for you." Something didn't smell right, literally. There was a foul odor that permeated the air, and it seemed to be coming from the gazelle.

"I just… I need a fucking doctor," he moaned, looking like he was on the verge of tears. His breathing was ragged, short gasps, and shuddering exhales. 

"Let me see," he requested. "If it's urgent, I can make it an emergency call and get the ambulance here faster."

The gazelle grimaced and turned to face Nick. He began to very gingerly roll up the sleeve of his shirt.

Nick recoiled when he saw what his arm looked like. There was a large black spot on the center of his upper forearm, and a sickly greenish-black patch of skin. It spread across his arm, halfway down his forearm and a third of the way up his bicep. The fur over the area was patchy and thin, and it smelled awful, clearly where the smell was coming from. He turned away and suppressed the urge to gag. "Alright, what's your name?" He asked.

"Harry," he grunted out.

"Alright, Harry," replied Nick. "I'm going to get an ambulance down here as fast as I can, and they'll take care of you at the hospital."

"I was already on my way to the fuckin' hospital!" He shouted.

"Yes, but you were also putting other mammals in danger. I can't condone that." Nick ran back to the car. "Clawhauser! This is Nick! Tell the EMTs to get here yesterday! We have a mammal with what appears to be a serious case of gangrene, and he needs urgent medical attention!"

"Oh! Goodness! Roger that!"

Nick returned to Harry. "Alright. The ambulance is on its way," he told him. "Is there anyone that you want me to contact in the meantime?" He asked. "Any parents or relatives?"

He seemed to hesitate. "M… my mom…" he whimpered. "Sarah Goldhoof."

Nick wrote down her name and her number. "Alright. I'll call her, promise."

"And my... friend. Terry, the driver. I want him there, as well."

"Alright. I'll make sure to tell him where you're going. Now… what happened to your arm?" He asked. Nick already suspected drug use played a significant factor, but he wanted to see if they could get Harry to fess up.

"I don't fuckin' know," he moaned.

Nick frowned, He wasn't sure if Harry was telling the truth, or if he sincerely didn't know. He kept in his mind the possibility that his conclusion was incorrect, but he was sure that he was right. He was broken out of his thoughts when Judy came around the back of the car.

"Hey, Nick. So the uniformed officers are giving the driver, Terrance, a ticket for speeding and- Sweet cheese and crackers!" She cut herself off when she saw Harry's necrotic arm. "Please tell me that EMS is almost here," she pleaded. She turned away, not wanting to look at the discolored flesh.

"Yeah. Had Clawhauser tell them to double-time it here," he told her. 

Almost on cue, an ambulance with lights and sirens blaring rounded the corner and sped up to the crash. Nick waved them down and had them bring a gurney over for Harry, who looked like he was about to start crying in relief. The two paramedics shared an uncomfortable look but helped Harry get into the gurney. Nick gave them both the information about Harry's mother so that they could call her from the hospital after they treated him.

Nick was about ready to call it a morning and head to Precinct One to catch up on the morning briefing that they definitely missed, but he saw Judy looking distracted by something. She was staring into the trunk of the car, open after the crash. "Earth to Carrots," he called, walking over to her. "Everything okay?"

"Nick… this just got a lot more complicated. Look."

Nick joined her and took a look into the trunk of the car. Instantly, his expression changed. Nick's eyes went wide, and his pupils contracted into razor-thin slits. Judy was right. This just got a whole hell of a lot more complicated, in more ways than she probably thought. Nick's mouth went dry, and he had to stuff his paws into his pockets so Judy wouldn't see them start to shake.

Sitting in the trunk of the car, there were several cases of narcotics. Probably a few dozen pounds of ketamine. A Schedule III controlled substance, a dissociative anesthetic...

And, once upon a time, Nick's drug of choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, with a new story. Don't worry, Lead and Silver isn't going anywhere, I already have more chapters of that ready to go. This is a new fic I got to work on recently, and I'm very excited to share it with you all.
> 
> Thank you to both Gameguy 1992 and Dakzoo for helping me out with this one. I know that they're both way bigger on this site than I am, but still, check them out if you haven't already. They're amazing writers with fantastic fics.


	2. Panic at the Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go from bad to worse for Harry, and for Nick.

Nick knew that he needed to get away from here as fast as he could. His paws were shaking, his mouth was dry, he needed to get away, he couldn't stay here! He began frantically looking around for an escape route.

"Okay, Carrots, divide and conquer?" He suggested. "I'll go with Harry in the ambulance, see if I can get anything out of him. You stay here and get his friend to Precinct One and process him. Have the Uniforms help you with the narcotics. Sound good?"

Judy nodded. "Meet up at Precinct One?" She asked.

"You know it."

Nick sprinted to the ambulance and managed to catch it before it closed. The two paramedics inside shot him a dirty look.

"Officer, I appreciate that you have a job to do, but so do we. Whatever questions you have for this young man can wait until after we treat him."

As the ambulance drove away, he calmed down. He took a few deep breaths as his hands stopped shaking. "Of course. But before you do, you should be aware that we just discovered a massive stash of ketamine in his car," replied Nick.

Harry went from nervous to looking panicked. The two paramedics looked at Harry. "Listen, son, we need to know if and what you've been using," one of them told him. "Otherwise, whatever anesthetic we give you might have a bad interaction with any narcotics still in your system and potentially kill you."

The ambulance began driving away, and Harry's eyes stayed locked on Nick.

"Listen, kid, we found the drugs," Nick told him. "At this point, there really isn't a whole lot you could say that will get you in worse trouble. So just talk to the doctors and tell them the truth."

"... I don't use K," he mumbled. "We just bought it because someone was selling it for cheap, we figured that we could make some cash. I… Last time I used it was Heroin. Last night. I just needed something to help me sleep with this fucking arm!"

One of the paramedics began rifling through eh ambulance before producing a syringe. "We're going to give you this, it's a non-opioid based, fast-acting-"

Harry cut him off. "Skip the fuckin' sales pitch and do something about my fuckin' arm!"

The paramedic injected Harry with the painkiller, and within minutes, Harry seemed to calm down, nearly sobbing in relief as the pain began to fade. "Fuck… Fuck…" He panted, finally relaxing. "What happened to my arm?" He asked. "The cop… you called it gang green?"

"Gangrene." replied one of the paramedics. "Basically, tissue death. The skin and muscle cells in your arm are dead, and they're releasing a chemical cocktail into your blood that is causing your pain and killing more cells. It'll continue to spread unless we… treat it." He didn't want to say what the treatment was. This kid was already clearly scared.

"What caused it?" He asked.

"Well, your drug use was the most likely factor," answered the other paramedic.

"I know what it is. I've seen it before," Nick said quietly to the surprise of the paramedics. "On other addicts, I mean." Nick shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his paw unconsciously drifting to a spot on his left arm. "I'm going to assume that you kept shooting up in the same place every time, in the same hole, because you could reliably hit a vein." Nick looked back at Harry, who nodded. "But, you're not allowing your body time to heal, and seeing as most drug dens aren't exactly the most sanitary places on earth, and you probably kept reusing the same needle. Even after you got the infection, you couldn't stop."

The paramedics watched as Nick fell silent, his thumb mindlessly rubbing over a spot on the inside of his elbow.

"You didn't really feel the pain since you kept using. Each shot would relief but also more and more bacteria. Slowly but surely, the infection got too bad, and the tissue started to die. You noticed something was up, discoloration, fur loss, bad smell… but shooting up seemed to make it feel better, so you just ignored it and hoped that it went away. Until eventually, the pain got so bad that you needed to go to the hospital," Nick looked up and remembering where he was as the two paramedics stared at him. He quickly let go of his arm and shifted in his seat. "and, um, then on the way, got pulled over by a dashingly handsome fox detective and his lovely bunny assistant.

***

Judy had just finished getting everything secured back at the crash site. Suddenly, she frowned and looked around.

"Everything alright there, detective?" Asked one of the officers. 

"I have a sudden, inexplicable urge to punch Nick in the shoulder for being a jackass," she replied. 

***

Harry looked despondent and blinked. "I… I didn't… know…" he trailed off. "So, how does this get fixed?" He asked. "Is there like, a medicine I have to take, or will I need surgery?" He asked.

Nick and the paramedics shared an uncomfortable look.

"Harry," one of the Paramedics spoke up. "We can't fix your arm. There's no way to bring dead tissue back to life. The only thing we can do is to… cut out the infected tissue so that it doesn't spread to the rest of your body."

Harry suddenly looked scared, way more frightened than he had previously been. "Wh- what are you saying?"

"Harry, with how far the necrosis has spread, there's no way to save your arm. We'll need to amputate."

The words hung heavy in the air for a few seconds. 

"You're… you're fuckin' joking, right?" He asked. "You can't cut off my arm!" Hary was starting to panic. "There- There's gotta be another way!"

One of the paramedics put a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, if there were, we'd use that. But, there isn't. Your arm is lost."

Harry began to frantically look around. "I- I gotta get outta here!" He shouted. "Fuckin'... Let me out!" He started thrashing as the paramedics tried to hold him down. "Let me outta this fuckin' thing! You can't take my arm!"

Nick stepped back and watched as the paramedics pushed Harry down into the gurney and sedated him. Harry's movements soon stopped as the sedative took effect, and Harry began to calm down. 

Nick bit his tongue and hoped that Judy was having an easier time back at Precinct One.

***

Back at Precinct One, Judy had gotten an earful for showing up late, but Bogo's tone changed when Judy showed up with an arrest and several crates of ketamine.

"My Office. Now." After they were seated, Bogo asked for a debriefing.

"Detective Wilde and I were on our way to work this morning when a speeding car blew by us, running a red light. We gave pursuit, and when they didn't stop, we deployed road spikes. The car crashed into a street light post and stopped," she explained. "We have the driver in custody right now, and the passenger was taken to Zootopia General due to a pre-existing medical condition. He had a gangrenous arm. That's why they were speeding; they were rushing to the hospital.

"And how did you and Wilde find the drugs?"

"The trunk popped open when the vehicle crashed, and the drugs were in plain view. Both the dashboard camera and our body cameras will corroborate our story."

Bogo nodded. "And where is Wilde right now?"

"Detective Wilde went with the other suspect in the ambulance after the drugs were discovered."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at that. "That's unusual. Why did he do that?"

"Nick said that he wanted to keep an eye on the injured mammal. To make sure he didn't try to run away while in the hospital."

Bogo mulled that over in his head for a moment. "Reasonable." Bogo looked her over. "Hopps, do you think that you and Wilde are up to this case?" He asked.

"Sir?" She asked, starting to get excited.

"You two are the leads on this case. Find out where they got the ketamine from and shut them down."

"Sir, yes, Sir! "She replied, eyes bright and full of enthusiasm.

"Good. Now go and see what you can get out of him," ordered Bogo.

"Right away, Sir!" She marched out of his room and headed towards the interrogation room. She met Fangmeyer and Wolford outside. "What's the deal with him?" She asked, looking at the panther through the one-way glass.

"He's claimed up. Refuses to talk," replied Fangmeyer. "No matter what we do, we can't get anything out of him. He seems scared of something."

Judy shrugged. "I get it. He and his friend are low-level dealers. They're probably terrified of the higher-ups supplying the stuff."

"There's also the matter of his friend with the fucked-up arm," chimed in Wolford. "He's probably worried about him. You could lean on that, promise to give him some updates and information if he cooperates."

Judy frowned. "Doesn't that seem a little underhanded?" She asked. "I mean, yeah, he's a criminal, but leveraging his friend like that…"

"Trust us, Judy. Sometimes you have to play a little dirty to break a case. Just don't do anything illegal, and you're fine."

Judy frowned but agreed. "Alright." She observed him for a moment longer. He looked terrible like he was in pain. He also kept wiping his paws on his shirt as best he could. "Hey Fangmeyer, cats sweat through their paws, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" Asked the tiger.

"Poor guy. He's withdrawing. Hard."

"How can you tell?" Asked Fangmeyer.

"I have almost three hundred siblings. In a family that size, someone is bound to have substance abuse issues," she replied. "Muscle aches and sweating, symptoms of early withdrawal. He's only going to get worse over time."

"Damn."

Judy walked into the room and hopped up onto the table.

"I want my phone call," he said before she could even get a word out.

Judy smirked. "Ah. The 'one free phone call.' That's just Hollywood make-believe. See, we don't _have_ to give you any phone calls at all, except to talk to a Lawyer. If you wish to do so, we have to provide you with all the calls you want." She switched on a recorder.

He frowned.

"Mister Terrance Panthera, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. If you decide to answer questions now, without an attorney present, you still have the right to stop at any time to request one. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?" She asked.

"... Yes."

"With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak with me?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever. How's Harry doing?" He inquired. "Is he alright? What's going to happen to his arm?"

"I don't have that information at the moment," she told him. "And you, strictly speaking, don't have the right to that information."

"What?! You have to tell me!"

"No. No, I don't," Judy replied. She really did feel for him.

"Then we're done here," he told her, breathing hard. "Unless you have something to say about Harry, you can leave."

"I don't think you understand the position you're in here," she told him. "You and your friend, we're taught with more than enough of a controlled substance for us to put you both away for years! So if you want a chance at getting out before you turn thirty, you had better start helping us."

"I have the right to remain silent, right?" He asked. "Then, I think I'll exercise that right until you have something to say to me about Harry's condition."

Judy frowned. "You do realize that you have no leverage here, right?" She asked. "We found those drugs in your car. The only thing you can do at this point is to cooperate to make things easier on you!"

He didn't say anything, choosing to glare at Judy with bloodshot eyes.

Judy sighed. "Fine. Have it your way," she told him. She switched off the recorder and left the room.

"No good?" Asked Fangmeyer.

"Clammed up, tight," replied Judy. "Refused to talk until he hears how Harry is doing."

Wolford spoke up next. "I get the feeling that they're a bit more than friends," he mused. "Hopps, you're dating Wilde. What do you think?"

Judy looked confused. "How, exactly, does dating Nick make me better equipped to evaluate their relationship?" She asked.

"I mean… Wilde wings both ways, right?" He asked. "So… do you get a similar feeling from this mammal?"

Fangmeyer suppressed a laugh but did grin. Wolford had just stepped in it big time.

Judy, on the other paw, looked a combination of offended and bewildered. "Officer Wolford, are you asking me if being in a relationship with a bisexual male somehow gives me the ability to tell when some other mammal is gay or bisexual?" She asked.

Wolford's eyes shot open. "Uuuhhh… no?" He weakly replied.

"Then what were you asking me?" She asked him.

"I… was… there's no good answer to that question, is there?" He asked.

"No."

"Then, I'll just shut up now."

"Good call," replied Fangmeyer with a grin.

"Excuse me, Detective Hopps?" The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a red deer.

"Yes, who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Anthony Prancebrooke. I'm from the office of the District Attorney. We want to speak with you about the mammals you arrested earlier." He showed her his badge.

Judy frowned. "What does the DA's office want with a couple of small-time drug dealers?" She asked.

"Well, you see, several other Precincts in the city have reported seeing a lot more ketamine on the streets lately. We think that there's a new player in Zootopia's drug trade, and we want information. The Office of the DA is prepared to offer these two a deal. Where is the other one?" he asked. "The Gazelle."

"Currently at Zootopia General under the watch of my partner," she replied.

"I see," he replied. "Well then, I'll send someone to talk with him. These two may very well have vital information that could help us get a lot of illegal drugs off the streets."

"What deal are you offering them?" She asked.

"A suspended sentence," he replied. "And if they serve it without incident, the charge will not appear on their records. All they would have to do is plead guilty, and provide us information that leads us to the drugs or the supplier."

"That's a pretty good deal," she replied.

"Well, the DA wants to nip this one in the bud before we have a citywide ketamine epidemic on our hands. We have an election coming up, and if something like this happens on his watch… Not a good look."

Judy frowned at the politicking. But she bit her tongue and nodded. "Well then, best of luck to him."

"Thank you."

As he departed, Judy wondered how Nick was doing.

***

At Zootopia General, Harry was being prepped for surgery when a middle-aged female gazelle burst in, demanding to see her son. She was intercepted by several doctors who promised to take her to see her son, Nick followed, taking a moment to look over the Gazelle.

She was middle-aged, and clearly relatively wealthy, judging by the way she was dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry. She hurried through the halls with them, yelling at them and threatening to sue the hospital with every breath as she demanded to see her son even as she eas being taking straight to him. They managed yo hey to his room before he was taken in for surgery.

"Mom!" He cried. "I'm so sorry! I'm so fucking sorry!'

"Harry, everything's going to be okay. These doctors are going to fox you right up, alright, everything will be okay."

"Miss Goldhoof, we have to get your son into surgery as soon as possible."

"Mom… mom, I'm scared."

"It'll be okay sweetie, I'll take care of everything." She watched as Harry was wheeled out of the hospital room and taken to surgery. As he left, Sarah turned to the doctor. "What the hell is wrong with my son?!" She demanded.

"Your son has a severe case of gangrene in his arm," he explained. "Likely as a consequence of his drug habit…" the doctor explained to her how Harry's drug use had damaged and infected his arm.

After he finished the explanation, Sarah was extremely agitated, especially upon hearing that they needed to cut Harry's arm off. She turned and looked at Nick. "And why is the fox here?" She asked. "You don't look like a doctor to me."

Nick pulled his badge out. "Ma'am, my name js Nick Wilde, and I'm a detective with the ZPD. I'm here to keep an eye on your son and to make sure he doesn't try to escape."

"Escape?!" She practically shrieked. "Why the hell would my son try to escape from life-saving medical treatment?!"

"Because when we attempted to pull your son over for speeding, we found several dozen pounds of drugs in the trunk of his car," Nick explained. "Your son is being charged by I've ZPD with Possession With Intent to Distribute."

That eas too much for Sarah. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but her words caught in her throat, and she fainted. Several doctors grabbed her to prevent her from falling on the floor and sat her down in a nearby chair.

Nick took a seat across from her and slouched forward in the chair. He started at his arm, wondering if he could have ended up in Harry's position, wondering what would have happened if…

He shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on that. The past was in the past, he would prefer that it stayed buried.

***

It wasn't long before Sarah woke up. She looked and saw Nick across from her. "What's going on?!" She demanded. "How long have I been out?! Where is my son?!"

"Your son is fine, Miss Goldhoof. He's still in surgery; you've only been out for a few minutes. You fainted when I told you that your son is being charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute."

"Yes! Why?! Hasn't he been punished enough?! They're cutting off his arm as we speak!" She pleaded. "He's just a kid who made a mistake! Can't you drop the charges?!"

Nick sighed. This was never easy. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but that's out of my control. Believe me, I wish I could just let him off with a slap on the wrists, but I can't. It's out of my paws."

"Wh-what's going to happen?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"Well… legally, the only thing you can really do is to get him a good lawyer. He's a first time offender, and the judge might be willing to go easy on him, especially if he gets lucky and ends up going before a sympathetic Judge. The best-case scenario is that he gets a relatively short prison sentence and is out in a few years."

"Anything else?" She asked, already grabbing her phone and looking up law firms.

"Yes. Be there for your son," Nick told her. "I have… experience with addicts. Right now, he's going to be feeling very vulnerable emotionally. He's also going to be going through withdrawal, and that will be terrible for him. What you need to do is to be there for him, give him emotional support, and this could very well be the thing that gets him off of drugs," he told her.

"After that… recovery is a lifelong process. He'll need things to keep himself on that track. Good friends and… a steady job. Addiction is a sickness, a disease that he'll never fully get over. But… with time and support… he can live a life of sobriety." Nick stared down at his arm again. "Talk to the doctors here about helping him get off drugs, they'll probably be more help than me."

"Anything else?" She asked, separation clear in her voice.

"No. We'll be in touch," he told her. He got up and exited the room. Once he was out, he rubbed his eyes. He needed caffeine. There had to be coffee somewhere in this hospital. He found a vending machine with some canned cold brew in it after a few minutes of searching. As he popped open the can, he heard his phone ring. Judy was calling him.

"Hello, you've reached the voicemail box of Detective Nick Wilde. Please leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as possible," he said. "And if the caller is an annoyingly cute bunny cop, please also send a naked selfie for the sake of identity verification."

"Ha ha," deadpanned Judy. "Come on, be serious for a moment, Slick."

"For you, my dear? I will make an effort."

"Some mammal from the DA's office came by earlier. They want to make a deal with our perps," she told him. "They're willing to grant them a suspended sentence if they tell us who gave them the drugs."

"Really?" He asked. "That's rather generous of them."

"Yeah. Turns out that there's been a ton of ketamine on the streets lately," Judy informed him. "They're hoping that these guys will be able to lead us to the supplier."

Nick gave a thick swallow at the news of the drugs. "Well… here's hoping their information helps whoever gets the case." Nick just wanted this to be over and done with. He had no desire whatsoever to get involved with ketamine. He had stayed sober by staying away from it for nearly ten years. He just wanted to wash his hands of this whole affair.

"Actually, that's the good news," said Judy, excitement palpable in her voice. "We're getting this case!" She told him. "Bogo assigned us to it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Nick is bisexual in this fic. And all my other fics. In fact, in my Zootopia fic I ever write, just assume that Nick is Bi unless I explicitly state otherwise.
> 
> Special thanks goes to Dakzoo, who helped me with the part of the fic where Nick is describing what happened to Harry's arm, and also to Gameguy 1992, who gave me some great feedback while I was writing this. They're both legends and deserve your readership.
> 
> Please leave a review. I love getting them, they really inspire me to keep working on my fics.


	3. Let's Make A Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick is put into an impossible situation, and must make a choice about how to proceed. Did he make the right one?

Nick's pupils contracted to paper-thin slits.

No.

This couldn't happen.

_ Tell her! _

** _She'll leave you if you do._ **

_ No, she won't! She'll understand! _

** _She won't want to be with a piece of trash junkie._ **

_ I've been clean for almost ten years! I'm not a junkie. _

** _No one cares! You're one bad day away from falling off the wagon!_ **

Nick was broken out of his internal struggle by Judy's voice: "Nick? Are you there?'

"Yeah! Yeah. Sorry, just… that's a big case for us."

"I know, right!" She cheered enthusiastically. "This is so great! Think about how much good we'll be doing! Not to mention how great it will be for our careers."

Tell her!

Shut your fucking muzzle!

"Yeah… Judy. That's… great b-"

"This is going to be so amazing, Nick! You and me, taking down a drug dealer! I can't think of any other mammal I'd rather have by my side than you."

_ TELL HER NOW! _

** _TELL HER, AND YOU DIE ALONE!_ **

"Judy I…" Nick swallowed thickly. This was a bad idea. He knew it was a Bad Idea. Even if Judy and everyone else knew about his past addiction, this would be a bad idea. "I feel the same way." He was so glad that this wasn't a Muzzletime call. If it were, she'd be able to see how badly he was freaking out.

_ Coward. _

** _Good boy._ **

"Thanks, Nick. Let's do this! Make the city a better place?" She asked.

"You know it."

"See you back at the Precinct?" He asked her.

"Yep! See you later, partner." There was a pause. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

Judy hung up.

Nick stared down at his phone. His grip became tighter and tighter until his fingers hurt, and his paw shook. He wanted to scream, to break something. He wanted to throw his phone against the wall hard enough to shatter it into a million pieces! He wanted to run away! To leave the city and never come back! Why did she do this to him?! It wasn't fair! He wanted to… to-

"Detective Wilde?"

Nick was broken out of his angry spiral by a voice.

"What?!" His voice was a loud snarl, he whipped around and came face to face with a smartly-dressed wolf.

"I- I'm Louis Packheart, from the District Attorney's office."

Nick quickly composed himself. "Yes. Sorry," he apologized. "Unrelated matter. Just… never mind. I assume you're here to talk with Harry Goldhoof about making a deal?" He asked.

"Yes. Your partner called ahead, I presume?"

"Yep," he replied, slipping on an easygoing smile, a familiar mask. "She's always on top.of things, that one."

"Where is Mister Goldhoof?" He asked.

"Still in Surgery, anesthetized. I'll show you to your son's hospital room. Fair warning, his mother is there."

"Oof. Thanks for the heads-up."

Nick watched as the wolf walked away. He slumped against the wall and slid down it into a sitting position.

Okay. Deep breath. Judy needs you. You can do this. You've been clean for over ten years now. You can get through this one case.

Keep telling yourself that.

***

A few hours later, Harry stirred awake. He could feel someone holding his hoof and looked over to see his mother there. "Harry… everything's going to be okay… everything's going to be okay."

Harry looked away from her, unable to face her. Then, he saw his arm, what was left of it anyway. A short stump with two tubes coming out of it, wrapped in heavy bandages. He began to sob, rolling onto his side and away from his mother.

"We'll give you a moment." There was an unfamiliar voice. Harry peeked over his bandages and saw a sharply-dressed wolf and a panther in the room with him. At first, he thought that Terry had come to see him, but no. This was another panther. The panther was dressed in a crisp suit and was reading through a file. The wolf left the room.

"What's going on?" He asked. His voice was hoarse and trembling with emotion.

"Harry, this wolf is from one District Attorney. They're… offering you a deal to keep you out of prison!" She sounded like she was about to burst into tears.

"What? What deal?" He asked.

Melvin spoke up. "A very generous one. You get a suspended sentence, and all you have to do is plead guilty and tell them where you got the ketamine," he explained without looking up. "And if you keep out of trouble for the next five years, the charges against you will be dropped, and you'll avoid prison time."

"What?" He asked, unsure how to process what he had just heard.

"Isn't it wonderful, Harry!" His mother cheered, squeezing his hoof. "You can walk away from this!"

Harry paused. "I'm not taking any fucking deal that Terry doesn't get," he replied adamantly.

"Harry!" Shouted his mother. "You can't be-"

She was cut off by the lawyer. "Young man, your friend is being given this same deal, I assure you."

"For real?" He asked.

"Yes."

"I… I have to tell them where I got the drugs?" He asked.

"You have to tell them everything you can remember about who sold them to you, where they did them to you, and who else was there," the lawyer explained. "You have to tell the truth, and you have to include every detail, no matter how insignificant it might seem. Furthermore, your information has to lead to some kind of bust or arrest."

Harry didn't respond.

"Harry. Isn't this wonderful?" Asked his mother.

"I… I don't know if I can," he replied. "These guys... they're scary."

"That's an issue to take up with the ZPD," replied the lawyer. "I'm sure that they'd be able to keep your identity under wraps." He stopped reading the papers. "As for lawyer. I highly advise you to take this deal."

"I want to speak to Terry," he demanded. "I not signing shit unless I know he has the same offer."

"Again, discuss that with the ZPD. I'm here strictly to give you legal advice."

Harry's mother was fretting in her seat.

After a few moments, both Nick and Louis came back inside. "Have you made a decision?" Asked the wolf.

"I want to talk to my friend," demanded Harry. "Let me talk to him. If he got the same deal that I'm getting, I'll sign it right here and now."

Louis's brow furrowed. "You're not in a good spot to make demands."

"And you need this fuckin' info. So let me talk to my friend. Or are you lying about him getting the same deal?" He challenged.

Melvin piped up again. "Mister Goldhoof, as your lawyer, I must advise against this course of action."

"Please listen to him, Harry!"

"Let me fuckin' talk to Terry!"

"GENTLEMAMMALS!" Nick shouted above the brewing argument, making everyone shut up. "Thank you. Now then, Detective Hopps, I have you on speaker, so please kindly take the phone to Terrance's cell?" He requested.

"Sure thing."

There were a few moments of pause.

"H-Harry?" It was Terry's voice. Sounding strained and shaky, coming through the phone.

"Terry!"

Nick gave Harry the phone, noticing that Harry's good was shaking.

"Terry, they're offering me a deal. They say that they're offering it to you as well. Are they?"

There was a pause.

"Y- Yeah… They… they are." He gasped out. "They made me an offer."

Harry looked back at Louis. "Alright. I'll sign it."

Louis shot Nick a dirty look as he held out the contract for Harry to sign. "Thank you. You made the right decision. Now then, I'm sure that Detective Wilde will be happy to take your statement after you've signed."

Harry took a pen in his remaining hoof and signed it. His signature was slightly shaky, something that Nick did not miss.

After the paper was signed, Louis and Melvin walked away, leaving just Nick, Harry, and Sarah in the room together.

"Miss Goldhoof, please leave the room. I need to talk to your son in private, okay?"

She nodded and stepped out of the room.

After they were alone, Nick smiled. "Alright. Let's get this going." He pulled out a tape recorder and switched it on, setting it to record. "This is Detective Nicholas Wilde, conducting an interview of a key witness and person of interest. Please state your name for the record," he requested.

"Harry Goldhoof," replied Harry.

"I need you to tell me everything. Where did you buy the drugs, when, from whom, and do you know of any future meetings?" He asked.

"We bought them from a Zebra named Eddie Dazzle," he began. "On Monday, just this last Monday. We were in Savannah Central, on the corner of Pack and Pride," he began.

"This guy, Eddie, did he have any distinguishing characteristics?" Asked Nick.

"Yeah… he had a tattoo of a red star on his back right shoulder blade, he was wearing a racerback tank."

Nick wrote down the information. "Anything else? Even the smallest detail can help us crack the case."

"That's all I got," he replied.

"Alright. Did this 'Eddie Dazzle' say anything about where he was getting the stuff or any future deals?" Asked Nick.

Harry thought for a moment. "He did mention something about a supplier… said that he would have more stuff' next week.'" He replied.

Nick nodded and write that down. "Anything else? Did he give you a way to contact him or tell you where the meeting would take place?" He asked.

"Yeah…. Yeah! Terry had a burner phone on him. He said that he would text the location and time of the next meeting to that burner."

Nick wrote that down as well.

"Thank you. That should be enough unless there's anything else you think we need to know."

"I… I can't think of anything else."

"Alright. Thank you." Nick switched off the recorder and put his notes away. He removed his badge and set it face-down on the hospital bed. "I'm talking to you now, not as an officer, but as someone who wants to help you."

"What do you mean?" Asked Harry, confused.

"You have a drug problem, you and your friend. I can tell, withdrawal is already starting to hit you. And it's probably hitting him worse."

"..."

"Look, you have a chance here, go to rehab, to a good place, not one of those places where they just take your money and feed you some nice-sounding birdshit about life and love," he replied. "Because if you or he gets caught buying or selling drugs, you're going to prison. For years."

Harry bit his lip.

"Look, I've… dealt with addicts. I know a good place... somewhere you can go." Nick tore a page out of his notepad and wrote down some information. "This is a good place; they'll help you, both of you."

"Why do you care?" He asked. "You got what you wanted from me. What does it matter to you if I end up in prison?"

"Look, I was like you once," he replied. "Well… not quite, but I know what it's like to be on the wrong side of the law. I used to live there. But then, I changed, because someone was willing to give a damn about me." He handed Harry the page. "I've… I've known mammals, very well, whose lives were almost totally destroyed by addiction. And between losing your arm and the withdrawal, you're going to want to start using again." He gripped his left forearm. "You've lost an arm, but you can come back from this. Go to rehab; get clean. And convince your friend to come with you."

Harry didn't say anything, electing to simply stare at the stump that used to be his arm.

"Think about what I said, please." Nick picked up his badge and walked out of the room.

Harry kept staring at where his arm used to be.

***

Judy had just finished taking Terry's statement. It had been somewhat awkward, he was shaking and stammering and getting nauseous throughout the whole process. After that, she had brought him back to a cell where he could wait as they processed his release paperwork. Judy took one last look at hum. He was curled up on the small bed in the holding cell, facing the wall. He was shaking and shivering, clearly in pain. She shook her head in sadness. She wished she could do more to help him.

As she walked away, her phone rang.

"Hey, So I just got Harry's statement," he told her. "Wanna compare notes real quick?"

"Yeah," she replied. She tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder while she began to look over the notes she took. "Terry bought the drugs from a Zebra named Eddie, red star tattooed on his back shoulder, Terry has a burner phone that can lead us to the next deal," she listed off.

"Matched up with what I got," he told her. "So either they're telling the truth, or they really worked out a cover story in advance."

"Yeah. This is so great!" She cheered. "We have a huge lead already! We get to work a huge drug case! This will be so good for our careers," she smiled. "More importantly, we can stop a massive influx of drugs into the city."

"Just like I imagine you wrote in your diary when you were five years old," Nick put on an obnoxious high-pitched voice. "Deaw Diawy, Today, I dweamed of taking down a giant dwug kingpin! I Shot him in his filthy fucking face with my huge gun!"

Judy laughed at that. "Come on! Be serious!" She told him. "Five years old is when I was dreaming about busting a sex trafficking ring." She took a breath. "But really, Nick. I'm so glad I have you helping me with this. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have by my side than my fox."

She could hear Nick hesitate before he replied. "Well, I gentletodd like myself couldn't in good conscience, leave my beloved bunny to fend for herself, could I?" He asked. "I'll always have your back, Judy."

"Thanks, Nick. That means a lot to me." She felt her heart warm. "See you back at the precinct?" She asked.

"Yep. See you later, Carrots."

"Bye." Se hung up the phone.

Judy ran into Fangmeyer again. "So, how's he doing?" She asked.

"Not good," replied Judy. "Withdrawl's hitting him hard. Nausea, vomiting, I put him in an empty cell. I didn't want him to be put in holding with other mammals right now."

"You seem to know a lot about what to expect," observed Fangmeyer. "Mist have done your research back at the Academy."

"Uhh… yeah! I wasn't Valedictorian for nothing," she replied, jumping on Fangmeyer's explanation. "Anyway, I have to go and get his paperwork processed. The sooner he gets out of here, the sooner he can get some help." Judy marched away, not wanting the conversation to drag on any longer. She'd rather not discuss family drama with her coworker.

She hoped Nick would be back soon.

***

Nick was in a bathroom stall at the hospital. Grateful that the bathroom was empty, he wanted privacy. He was gripping a Karma Tail Necklace tightly. Nick wasn't particularly religious but wasn't about to turn down help from any potential source. He was repeating a mantra to himself.

"I am an Addict, but I am not addicted. I am in control of my actions, not the drugs. I will resist the urge to use, no matter how hard it may be."

He had run through this mantra a few times already. It had been taught to him when he was in rehab. It had helped, and he remembered it to this day. He stopped after a few minutes and then tucked the necklace back in his shirt. He took a deep breath. "Come on, Judy needs you," he muttered. "Just knuckle down and stay sober. You've done it for over a decade, you can keep it up for one fucking case."

He left the hospital and began to walk towards a nearby train station. Even as he walked, he couldn't shake a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with another chapter of Relapse. As always, please tell me what you thought of this in the comments. I look forward to reading what you have to say about this fic.


	4. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Terry reunite for the first time since they got into this mess. Can their relationship survive the strain? And what about the case? Will Nick and Judy make any progress?

Judy was sitting at her desk, looking through the burner phone that Terry had turned over to the ZPD, although it looked more like a tablet in her paws. The text he had gotten just a few days ago further confirmed his story about where the drugs had been sold. Then, the ZPD installed a mirroring app on the phone so that any notifications it got would be sent directly to her and Nick's phones. They didn't know how big of a window they would have to make the bust, so they wanted to be ready for when it went down. Currently, she was combing through the information on the phone to see if she could glean anything else…

"Carrots, lunchtime," came Nick's voice from behind her. A second later, he put a package down next to her. "That place with the kale wraps you liked was on the way, so I picked you up some," he informed her. 

Judy smiled, looking down to see that Nick had, indeed, gotten her favorite kale wraps in Savannah Central. "Thanks," she smiled. With all the stuff going on throughout the day, Judy had totally forgotten to eat. And now that food was in front of her, she realized just how hungry she was. She opened the plastic clamshell case and began to chow down, enjoying the feeling of the kale crunching between her teeth. "Mmm…"

Nick smiled and made sure no one was looking their way. Once he did, he snuck a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Nick!" Blushed Judy. "Come on! No PDA at work."

"No one saw," he told her. "And, really, it's your fault for being irresistible," he teased.

"Victim-blaming now, are we?" She smiled and took another bite of her food.

Nick saw the phone on her desk. "What's going on?" He asked. "Find anything on the phone?"

"Yeah. We think we have Dazzle's phone number. We also got a mirroring app installed, so we can keep it monitored constantly."

"Nice." Nick took a seat in his desk, across from Judy. "So, what's the game plan?" He asked. "Bust in with a SWAT Team and take everyone down?" He asked.

"Yep! No need to complicate things." She took another bite of her wrap. "If we can get Dazzle, we might be able to get him to give up his supplier."

"Think Dazzle will get the same deal Harry and Terry got?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah. The DA would give a huge dealer like that a suspended sentence," she scoffed. "No. He's going down hard. Harder if he refuses to play ball."

Nick leaned forward. "Well, all we can do is wait. How's Terry doing?" He asked her.

"Not great. He's been bouncing between the bed and the toilet all day. He's in really rough shape. I already submitted his paperwork for release, so he should be out of here today." She sighed. "He'll probably hit up his dealer for a fix. He's really hurting for it."

Nick slouched on his desk. He grabbed the small bi pride flag he kept in his pen holder and began to twirl it between his fingers. It was a pretty common habit of Nick's whenever he was thinking. After a moment, he put it down. "Then, let's not let him."

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Nick, we can't just keep him held here forever."

"No. Look, before I left the hospital, I tried to convince Harry to go to rehab to deal with his addiction. I think I got through to him. Maybe… maybe he can convince Terry to come with him."

Judy mulled it over. "You really think that Harry can convince him?"

Nick shrugged. "I have no idea. But worst-case scenario, we're not any worse off than we are now. Best-case scenario? We help these two."

Judy smiled and nodded. "Look at you, acting all caring about two almost complete strangers."

"Yeah. There's this bunny I know that has a super-annoying habit of bringing out the best in me and making me want to be a better mammal."

"Oh, really?" She asked, rising to his challenge. "Because there's this fox, I know…"

"Oh?" He asked. "Well. If he's anything like my bunny, he smothers you with all this unconditional love and support."

"Eh. I wouldn't know. I'm just using him for his body."

Nick laughed out loud at that. "Huh… is it weird that I'm okay with that?" he asked her. "Come on, let's go and get our jailbird."

"Yeah. Let's go."

Nick and Judy walked down to holding and went to Terry's cell. "Terry?" Asked Judy, calling out to the panther, who was curled up on the bed. "You're free to go. We'd like you to come with us."

Terry slowly, gingerly, rolled over. "Do I have a choice?" He asked.

"Of course. You've been released. You can just walk out the door right now. But we'd like you to come with us." Judy licked her lips, nervous. "We'll take you to Harry."

Terry rolled over and looked at them both. "For real?" He asked, weak.

"Yes," replied Judy. "He's being treated at Zootopia General. We can get you in there."

Terry rolled out of bed and fell onto the floor. "Please… take me." Terry was in bad shape. The withdrawal was clearly getting to him. He was in pain, stumbling and squinting, his pupils were blown out, dilated widely, so a lot of light was getting in. Nick offered Terry his sunglasses, which he gladly accepted.

Nick and Judy got in the front seats of the car and let Terry have the entire backseat to himself. He laid down and covered his head with his jacket, trying to block out as much light as possible.

Judy started up the car and began to drive to the hospital. As she did, she saw Nick pull a coin out of his pocket and began flipping it between his fingers, practicing some sleight-of-hand tricks. She smiled. Nick had shown off those trick the first time he had met her family, they had been a big hit with the little kids. She wondered why he was doing them here and now…

"Eh, he's probably just a little bored. Not like we can really move forward with this case until Dazzle makes a move."

The drive to the hospital was a short one, no more than ten minutes. Judy and Nick led Terry to the room that Harry was staying in, and then gave the two of them some privacy while they talked.

Nick leaned against the wall and then sat down on the floor, gesturing for Judy to join him. "So, what do you think will happen?" Asked Nick, continuing to roll the coin over his knuckles.

"Honestly, I don't know." She sat down next to him and watched him play with the coin. "I'm hoping that you're right, and you managed to convince Harry." Judy watched as Nick rolled the coin into his paw. He opened his paw, one finger at a time, revealing that the coin had vanished.

"Those two have a hard road ahead of them," he sighed. "Hopefully, they can stay together during all of this." Nick opened his opposite paw, revealing the coin.

"Wait, you mean they are together?" She asked. "Like, dating?"

"Yeah," replied Nick. "At least that's the vibe I got from them. I could be wrong, but I have an eye for these kinds of things. You have to get good at reading people if you're going to make it as a hustler."

Judy stopped looking at him and listened. She heard shouting coming from the hospital room, it sounded like Harry and Terry were having an argument. "Should we intervene?" She asked. 

"Let's wait," he told her. The shouting got louder, but neither of them could quite make out what was being said. A moment later, Terry stormed out of the room and glared at Nick. "You told him to go to rehab?!" He demanded.

Nick sighed and stood up. "Yes. I did," he replied. "And you should do the same."

"I don't fucking need rehab! And neither does he!" Terry ripped his sunglasses off. His eyes were blown-out and bloodshot. "Neither of us has a problem! Everyone else has the fucking problem!" Tery grabbed Nick and slammed him against the wall.

"Carrots, anytime you want to get involved is fine with me," Nick called to her.

"Terry! Listen to me!" Ordered Judy. "You just got a great deal from the DA! You assault a cop and you lose it! You'll go to jail, and it'll be for an even longer time!"

Terry responded by snarling at Nick, but his grip loosened.

"Terry, you have a problem," said Nick in a calm voice, gently grabbing Terry's wrist. "And you need help with this problem. Look where it's gotten you so far. "You and Harry both got into a car accident, got arrested, and Terry lost his arm."

"I don't need rehab! I need… I need…"

"More skag?" Asked Nick. "More junk in your arm until you get unlucky, and you lose yours?"

Terry averted his gaze, staying silent.

"And what about Harry? You're really going to try and get in the way of him trying to get sober?" Asked Nick. "Are you seriously going to make him choose between you and sobriety? You or recovery?"

"I- I just…"

Judy piped up this time. "Terry, you're going through withdrawal. You're agitated, probably feeling terrible. You're probably craving more drugs right now. Please, just let my partner go, we can go in and talk things over with Harry, alright?"

Terry finally let go of Nick. "Alright…" His voice was barely audible.

Nick and Judy walked Terry into Harry's hospital room.

"Harry I- I'm sorry. I just…" Terry took a deep breath. "I'm scared. Alright."

Harry looked away from him, clearly not wanting to speak to him at the moment.

Nick gave Terry a pat on the arm and approached the bed. "Harry, can we talk?" He asked.

Harry stayed silent but nodded.

"Harry, look, recovery is going to be a long process. I've seen how hard it can be for people who go through it…" Nick grabbed his own arm. "The two of you can be a great help to each other. A wonderful source of support."

"He doesn't seem to want to support me," replied Harry. "He seems to be perfectly happy to try and talk me out of getting help!"

Nick raised a paw up towards Terry, silently telling him to be quiet. "Harry, he's scared. He doesn't want to go to rehab because if he did, he'd have to admit that he has a problem. That's very scary." Nick began to rub his arm. "This was something that the two of you started doing because it was just a fun way to spend an afternoon, get high, play some music, maybe have some drugged-out sex… just have fun."

Harry and Terry looked at Nick.

"Looking back, you can't remember when it happened. Somewhere along the way, you started to lose control. Soon, it stopped being about fun and became about satisfying the deep, gnawing hunger within you. Maybe you started to do things that you never thought you would do just to get some more junk. Maybe you started pushing people away because your addiction was more important. Maybe you even did something you can't ever take back..." Nick snapped out of it and looked back at Harry. "You lost your arm. That's pretty physical proof for you. Losing a limb is probably a lot scarier than admitting you have a problem. But Terry isn't there yet. He's deep into withdrawal. Probably been a good few days since he last used. His head is the furthest thing from clear right now," Nick explained. "Just… keep in mind that he might not have totally meant everything he said. He's scared, and probably in quite a bit of pain."

Harry finally looked at Terry. "Terry… I don't want us to end." He told him, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "But… I can't keep living like this! My fuckin' arm's gone! I don't want to keep doing this! What's next? I start shooting up into my thigh and lose my leg? I have to get better. I want to get better with you."

"Harry…"

"But if I can't get better with you. Then I'll just have to do it without you. What's more important, Terry? Me? Or the junk?"

"Harry! Please! Now that we know… We can be careful! If something like this happens, we know to go and get it taken care of right away!" Pleaded Terry. "It's like you said, the docs could have saved your arm if we had just gotten to them sooner."

"Me or the junk, Terry?"

"Damn it! Listen to me! Why are you forcing me to choose?! Huh?! How is that fair?!"

"I already chose. I chose rehab. I want you to come with me. I don't want to lose you."

"I- I just- I- FUCK!" Terry brought his fists down on the table over Harry's bed.

"Terry. Please, give me your paw." Harry asked gently, his voice was soft.

Terry wordlessly obliged.

Harry took Terry's massive paw in his one remaining hoof. "Terry. Please. I want to do this with you. Get clean! Live better lives! I want to… I don't know what I want to do. But I know I can't do it if I spend half my nights passed out on a bare mattress somewhere. And I certainly don't want to do it if I have to spend every night worrying if this is going to be the night you OD and die!"

"What about me?" Asked Terry.

"That's up to you. But whatever I do…" Harry smiled. "I want my big, strong, kitty cat there with me every step of the way.

Terry gave Harry's hoof a squeeze. "If I do this… Go with you… You promise you won't leave me?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. I, I promise." he smiled and used his arm to pull Terry down into a kiss.

Terry gave a low growl that transitioned into a purr as he deepened the kiss. This felt good, right. It made the withdrawal pain feel far away. He squeezed Harry's hoof a little harder, wanting this moment to last.

Harry wanted the same and sat up a little to get closer to his boyfriend.

"Ah-hem!" Nick cleared his throat loudly. "Not that we want to break you two up, but we're standing right here."

The two of them broke apart, embarrassed. "Sorry... "muttered Harry. "Lots of… emotions."

Nick gave them a kind smile. "Hey, it's fine. I was your age once, too." He looked at Terry, specifically. "Still interested? We can give you a ride if you want."

"... Alright… Alright." Terry looked over at Nick and Judy. "You two don't mind? Taking me… wherever you convinced him to go?"

Nick smiled and nodded. "I think we can take you there, Serve and Protect, right Carrots?" He asked.

Judy responded with a smile of her own. "Yep! Let's go."

Harry and Terry shared a kiss before Terry left with Nick and Judy. On the way, Terry asked a question.

"Hey. What makes this place so good?" He asked.

Nick replied. "Like I told Harry, most rehab places just take your cash and give you some kind of birdshit about 'inner strength,'" he explained. "This place has actual doctors and mammals who understand addiction on both a physical and psychological level. Someone… Someone I know very well went here. Kept them clean for years before they had a slip, and gave them the tools they needed to avoid a relapse. Work with the mammals here. They'll help you."

Judy listened, curious about this friend Nick was talking about.

"... Right. Thanks."

Nick opened the door of their car and let Terry out. They watched as Terry entered the facility before they drove away.

"Hey, Nick? Who's the friend you were talking about?" She asked. "The one with the drug problem?"

_ Shit! _

** _Lie!_ **

_ No! This is the perfect opportunity to tell her the truth! She'll understand not wanting to say anything to an almost complete stranger! _

** _She'll hate you for being a junkie! A lying Junkie! You're in too deep! Lie!_ **

_ Judy will understand! You know that she had a brother go through the same thing! _

** _YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT RISK!_ **

_ Be honest! _

** _LIE OR SHE LEAVES YOU!_ **

"Finnick," replied Nick. "It was Finnick."

"Really?" She asked, surprised. "I never knew."

"Yeah… Finn hates when it gets brought up. Just… don't tell him that I told you, alright? He doesn't want other mammals to know."

** _Good boy._ **

_ That was a bad idea. Just come clean. _

"Alright, consider it a secret." She told him. She hopped back in the driver's seat and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Payback for earlier," she told him.

Nick smiled and rubbed the spot that she kissed. "Well… If you're talking about paying me back… There's still the issue of what I did to you last night," he reminded her with a grin.

Judy blushed fiercely. "I- But I've never… Not like that…"

Nick laughed. "I'm kidding, Carrots. Karma, you should have seen your face. Come on, you know that Naughty Nick and his Twisted Tongue don't do anything with the expectation of payback," he told her. "Hearing those noises that you made was all that I needed."

She flushed again and squirmed in her seat. Before she could respond, her phone went off. She looked at it, and her eyes went wide. "Nick! We gotta get back to the precinct! That was the mirroring app on Terry's phone!" She told him, excited. "Dazzle just sent Terry a text about their next planned meetup! We have this guy dead to rights!"

Nick gulped. This was it. "Alright then, Carrots. Drive," he told her. "But please remember, I want to get back to the precinct in one piece."

"I make no promises."

Soon as the words were out of her mouth, Judy switched on the lights and sirens and slammed her foot on the gas. Their unmarked cruiser took off, speeding down the streets towards the ZPD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise Christmas Update!
> 
> Yeah, this chapter was a bit heavy on the Harry/Terry stuff, but I wanted to give those characters a happy ending. We probably won't be seeing them again unless I decide to give them a cameo later on in the fic, probably towards the end.
> 
> As always, leave a review and let me know what you liked and what you didn't like.


	5. Temptations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Judy act on their lead, and Nick has to try and resist his inner demons when confronted with temptation.

Nick and Judy got back to Precinct One in record time. "What's going on?" Asked Judy. "What did the text say?"

Wolford met her. "The deal is going to go down tomorrow at one in the morning. Not a lot of witnesses out and about at that time."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time to come up with a game plan," said Nick, concerned. "And they might get spooked if they see a bunch of cop cars nearby."

"We're going to keep the cars hidden and use a drone to keep eyes on the deal. We move when we see the merchandise," explained Bogo. "Snipers will be on the rooftops to provide fire, armed with tranq rounds as well as lethal options should things go south. We're keeping it simple and straightforward, much to your chagrin, I'm sure, Wilde."

"You know me, chief, always a performer. Are you sure we can't work a body double and a few triple-crosses into the plan?"

"We'll nail your body to a cross as an elaborate act of misdirection. How's that?" Replied Bogo. "You'd do an excellent job of drawing their fire."

"Fine with me," replied Nick. "Just as long as I get some time to work on my Lion Christ abs beforehand. Can't pull off the savior look without being shredded."

Bogo rolled his eyes. "Rhinowitz and Snarlof will be working as the muscle on this. They'll be in a van a few blocks away, you and Hopps will be staking out the location from up close. Due to your size, you should be able to go unnoticed," explained Bogo. "If you need backup, we can have Fangmeyer and Trunkaby standing by. Based on what the perps you arrested earlier said, we're not expecting anyone to be heavily-armed for this deal if they want to keep things quiet."

"That makes sense. If a bunch of random mammals showed up in body armor and carrying rifles, that would draw a lot of attention to their deal," mused Judy. "So the good news is that they'll be lightly armed if they're armed at all."

"We do this by the book, mammals. I do not want to leave even the slightest chance that our supplier could wriggle out of this. Get pictures of him with the merchandise if you can. I want an ironclad case against this dealer."

"Yes, sir!" Replied Nick and Judy. 

***

A few hours later, Nick and Judy were sitting in a disguised tactical van, parked a few blocks away from the place that the deal was going to take place. From the outside, it looked just like a plain, white, slightly beat-up, totally nondescript van. Inside, however, it was filled with high-tech surveillance equipment, including a control panel for a camera drone.

"Damn, Carrots, this van probably has more square footage than that shoebox you used to live in," Nick remarked. 

"Well, it was designed for megafauna," she replied. "But yeah. It probably does. Now I get why Finnick lives in his van. I used to think he was crazy for driving around in a van that was sized for wolves."

"Well... That's not the only reason," he told her. "But yeah. Zootopia apartments can be dick-up-the-ass expensive."

"Oh?" She asked him. "So… painful, but you love it?"

"Hey!" He replied mock-offended. "You only get a lot more of those," he teased. "There is only so much that I can take."

"Well, since you're saying I get a lot more of those… you're saying that you can take a lot," she reasoned out, smirking. "You slut."

"And proud of it!" He replied. "Hey. We have movement," he told her. They had parked the drone on a rooftop overlooking the vacant lot where the deal was supposed to go down, only running the camera to preserve battery. It looked like a few cars were pulling up. "Zoom in."

Judy was at the controls for the drone. She pressed a button, and the camera began to zoom in further. There was definitely a zebra there. But they could only see him from the front, so the tattoo that both Harry and Terry had pointed to as an identifying mark was not visible.

"Probably our guy, now we just have to wait and see if this goes anywhere," remarked Judy. She grabbed the radio. "All units, we have possible eyes on the deal going down. Get ready to move in on my 'go, '" she instructed. 

"Ten-Four, solid Copy."

"Ten-four. Good Copy."

Judy hung up the radio.

"Karma, you're sexy when you take charge like that," flirted Nick.

"Keep it in your pants, Wilde," she replied with a smirk.

"I promise to do so at least until he's in custody. After that? I make no promises, my love."

That managed to get a faint blush from Judy. 

"We've got more movement," said Nick. It looked like the Zebra was pulling some stuff out of the back of a pickup truck. When he turned around, his tank top exposed a star tattoo on his back. "Alright. We have confirmation that's Eddie," he grinned. "Sick tat."

"Do I have to worry about you cheating on me with him?" She teases.

"Hey, I may be committed to you, mind, body, and soul… but that doesn't mean that I can't look," he replied.

"Uh-huh." Abe grabbed the radio. "Alright. We have a positive ID that this is the perp we're looking for. Move in on three… two… one… GO!" She ordered.

Within seconds, the ZPD descended on the site of the deal-in-progress.

"ZPD!" Shouted Judy as she, Nick, Rhinowitz, and Snarlof burst into the parking lot. "Get down on the ground and put your paws behind your heads!" She shouted through a megaphone.

The perps scattered, all trying to run in different directions. Unfortunately, the only ways out of the lot were the main entrance, which was barricaded by several ZPD vans, and a narrow back alley, which was also blocked by a large van.

"Fuck you!" Screamed one of the buyers, pulling out a gun and firing it at the officers.

Nick and Judy dove out of the way, taking cover behind one of the cars. "Shots fired!" Yelled Nick into his radio. "I repeat, shots fired! Trunkaby, Fangmeyer, get your tails over here! Snipers! Do your thing!"

The leopard with the gun kept firing until he ran out of bullets. While he fumbled to try and reload, one of the snipers shot him with a high-power tranquilizer dart right in the neck. He passed out in seconds.

Some of the other dealers took advantage of the confusion he had caused and tried to get behind something, but it was futile. With the snipers perched on the opposite rooftop, there was little for them to hide behind.

That was the moment that Trunkaby and Fangmeyer burst in with heavy-duty ballistic shields. They used the shields to flank around the remaining dealers still in cover. Several shots rang out, but the shields stopped them from doing any damage. They surrendered soon after.

The only remaining loose end was Dazzle himself. He had turned to sprint down the alley as soon as Nick and Judy had shown up. He ran into the uniformed officers at the end of the alley, who trained their guns on him. Seeing that he was beaten, Eddie Dazzle got onto his knees and put his hooves behind his head, letting them cuff him.

It had all happened in a matter of seconds. From the moment that Nick and Judy arrived to the moment the dealers were in handcuffs, less than a minute had passed. It was a textbook bust, with zero injuries or casualties. Perfectly executed.

While the dealers were taken back to the precinct for processing, Nick and Judy stayed behind to help secure the crime scene. They helped to gather up all the evidence, chief among which was a colossal pallet of ketamine pills.

** _There's so much there. No one would miss one little bottle._ **

_ No. This is already too dangerous. I shouldn't even be here!  _

** _Just pocket it. Slip it into your vest pocket, and no one would even see it. With your reputation, the ZPD wouldn't also search you on your way out…_ **

_ I earned that reputation. I should live up to it. _

** _Fuck that! Just live! Have a little party. You've been clean for so long. A few pills won't make you relapse._ **

_ "That's not the point! I want to  _ stay  _ clean! _

** _What's the harm? No one would ever know… take a fun little vacation from reality. I hear that K-land is lovely this time of year._ **

_ No. No I won’t. I'm better than that. _

"Nick?"

Judy's voice broke him out of his internal dialogue. "Wolford needs me. Apparently, someone tried to ditch a fin when they ran, and he needs my 'tiny rabbit paws' to reach it."

"Oh, alright," he replied.

_ Fuck! _

Nick had been leaning on Judy as an anchor. Her around was keeping him honest, helping to keep his temptation in check. As he watched her walk away, he started at the drugs.

** _Do it._ **

_ I… I… _

** _Do it!_ **

_ I really shouldn't- _

** _DO IT!_ **

***

It was the next day, and Nick and Judy were back at the precinct. After the bust, they had gone home and gotten as much sleep as they could before they had to be back at the station. Bogo had given them permission to come in later than usual due to how late they had to stay up securing the bust on Dazzle and his customers. Even after he had been put in cuffs, there was still a mountain of paperwork. It had been past three in the morning before Nick and Judy had been able to go home. Typically, they would have started their shift at seven in the morning, but this time, they entered at around eleven.

Clawhauser greeted them. "Hey, Nick, Judy. Sleep well?" He asked in an insinuating tone.

"Spots. You gotta cool it down," replied Nick. "Not that it's any of your business, but if you must know... We were up until past three in the morning doing paperwork. We passed out as soon as we got home."

"I'm sorry! But you two are so adorable together!"

"Where are the perps we brought in?" Asked Judy.

"Interrogation rooms three through ten," replied Clawhauser. "Dazzle is in room three."

"Great. Thanks," replied Nick. "Carrots, shall we?" He asked.

"We shall," she agreed, walking with Nick towards the interrogation rooms.

***

Eddie Dazzle was handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room, drumming his fingers against the metal surface. After his arrest, he had been thrown in a cell and allowed to get some sleep, but then he was woken up and taken to the interrogation room. He had been here for hours, waiting for something, anything to happen. He was trying to deduce who had sold him out when Nick and Judy entered the room.

"Mr. Dazzle. I'm Detective Hopps, and this is my partner, Detective Wilde," Judy introduced herself and Nick.

"Hey there, you can call me 'Johnny Law.'" 

Dazzle rolled his eyes.

Judy started the recorder. "Mister Edward Dazzle, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak with us?" She asked.

"Sure. Whatever. It's not like you're going to get anything out of me."

Nick and Judy smiled at each other. "Ah, if I had a nickel for every time a perp said that… I probably wouldn't be having stress dreams about the shitty pension that we'll have to retire on," remarked Nick.

Dazzle rolled his eyes.

"Well… perhaps if you didn't insist on buying two-hundred-dollar pawi'ian shirts, you might be able to save some money," said Judy, passive-aggressively.

"It was a limited-edition signed my Jimmy Pawffet!" He replied. "In a few years, it'll be worth two-thousand."

"But you wore it! Taking it out of the packaging is going to drive the value way down!"

"What was I supposed to do?" He asked. "Not wear a shirt that will make everyone jealous?"

"I promise you. No one is jealous."

Eddie was now confused.

"How about we just get back to the perp?" Suggested Nick.

"Why? We got him dead to rights. But you're not dodging this argument any longer. You are terrible with money!"

"Hey, "Dazzle tried to get their attention.

"I am not. You just don't understand playing the long game."

"Hey!"

"'Long game' my tail! You always do this! You make some stupid decision, and then treat me like an idiot and make up some lame excuse when I call you out on it!"

"I wouldn't have to do that so often if you would just get off my back about this stuff!"

"HEY!" Shouted Dazzle.

"WHAT?!" They both shouted at him at the same time.

"This stopped bring about me pretty quickly."

Nick scoffed. "Like the lady said, we have everything we need on you. This interrogation is a formality. You're being charged with possession with intent to distribute and resisting arrest, and once all those small-timers roll on you, probably quite a bit more. Reduced sentences are excellent motivators."

"The fuck does that… oh. I see." Realization dawned on him. "Bravo. A magnificent performance officers."

"Told you it wouldn't work," said Judy.

"Fine. I owe you twenty dollars."

"You were trying to get me to snitch on my supplier, huh? Not going to happen. I ain't a sellout."

"Why? What do you have to gain from shutting up?" Asked Nick? "You're going to jail either way. Is this about your pride?" He asked. "Honor among Thieves?"

"Yeah. And they'd have me killed if I talked. So you can just stop wasting your time."

"Eh. Whatever. We already have our leads on him anyway, "shrugged Nick.

"... What?"

"Oh yeah. You're a talker, Dazzle. You let slip a few details to your customers. They gave us some very juicy information."

Eddie began frantically thinking back. Trying to remember anything he might have said. 

"Yeah. We already have some guys running a surveillance op down at the docks. Waiting for your guy to show up with a new shipment."

Eddie began to panic. What the fuck had he let slip?!

"Well. I guess you didn't say anything. But they won't know that. We could put you into protection… but that would require you to have actually given us something."

"Fuck, fuck FUCK! Alright. What do you want to know?" He asked, burying his face in his hooves.

"How about you start with your guy's name?" Asked Judy.

"I don't have a name," he replied. "This guy, he's super paranoid. Never meets with anyone face-to-face. Alway's over the phone. Closest we ever got was when I got put into the backseat of a limo while he was in the front seat. Never saw his face, or even what species he is."

"Where and when did this take place?" She asked.

"I don't know… three or four months ago. In the meadowlands. He picked me up on the corner of Hay and Clover."

Judy scribbled that down.

"Next, "began Nick. "Tell us the names of any other high-level dealers that you know of," he demanded. "As well as any other pertinent information."

Eddie gave them the information, which Judy wrote down, giving them several promising leads.

"Alright. Finally, We need you to tell us how the drugs are getting into the city," said Nick.

"What do you mean?" Asked Eddie. "You already know that they're coming in through the docks."

"Specifics are important," he shrugged. "Tell us where they're coming in."

"Pier 113," replied Dazzle. "They get shipped in through Pier 113."

"Boom. There we go," grinned Nick. "Thank you for your help, Mister Dazzle. You've helped to make this city a better place." He got up and began to leave the interrogation cell along with Judy.

"Wait!" He called. "What did I say to who that made you figure out what you already knew?" He asked, wanting to know how he screwed up.

Nick and Judy smirked. "Ohhh. Right. That's what we in the police business call a lie." answered Nick.

Eddie's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "... what?"

"Yeah. We lied about that," explained Judy. "No one knew anything. The docks were an educated guess. It's pretty hard to get that amount of drugs into Zootopia any other way."

"But… I… You…" Eddie's brain was short-circuiting.

Nick got in one last parting shot before they closed the door. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

"Boom." Judy bumped the door closed with her hip and let Eddie sit in silence.

***

"Masterfully done, detectives," praised Bogo, waiting for them outside the interrogation cell. "You two might just be good at your jobs yet."

"I mean, I don't know if I'd go that far," replied Nick. "I'm mostly getting by on my good looks while Judy does all the heavy lifting."

"Wilde, if you wanted to get by on your good looks, you'd be wearing a bag over your head." He turned to Judy. "How do you want to play this?" He asked.

"Let's send a surveillance team down to the docks," she suggested. "Could be quite a while before a new shipment comes in. Dazzle was a big player, but he's not the only big player. Especially since we just picked him up, his boss will probably want to lie low for a while before bringing in the next shipment."

Bogo nodded in agreement. "Excellent point, Detective. Anything else?"

"He mentioned that limo ride. If we go through his phone, we might be able to get an exact date, time, and location. Maybe we can find a lead that way?" Suggested Nick.

"Another excellent plan, Wilde. Get the phone down to Cyber right away." Bogo Ordered.

Nick couldn't resist cracking a joke. "Wow, Chief, genuine praise. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Enjoy it while you can, Wilde. Knowing you, it will be years before you hear any from me again."

"If you two are done…" Judy cut in. "I'll take Dazzle's phone down to Cyber and then we can-"

"Go home." Bogo cut her off. "The other dealers have been interrogated, and after you turn that phone into Cyber, there will be nothing more for you to do until they crack it, and that could take days. Your shift is almost over as it is, and you burned the candle pretty late last night."

"But, sir, the case-"

"Go. Home. Hopps." Bogo sighed. "Listen, part of being a good detective is taking care that you don't burn out. You two don't have any other open cases at the moment, so there's no reason to stick around. Go home, relax, and get some sleep."

"... Yes, sir."

"Don't you worry, sir. I'll make sure she doesn't do anything crazy, like ninja her way into the precinct to work on the case in secret."

"... See that you do. Dismissed." Bogo walked away.

"Well, Carrots, if it's all the same to you, do you mind if I grab a quick shower? I mean, transporting a phone to the fine mammals in Cyber is a big job, so if you want your foxy partner as backup, I'll understand," he teased. "Otherwise, I'd like to go and shower. Between the hot van and tactical gear, I worked up a sweat."

Judy rolled her eyes. "I can handle it, babe."

"Great. My musk may be enchanting, but alas, it is possible to have too much of a good thing." He set off towards the locker rooms.

***

After his shower, Nick began to get dressed. As he did, he pulled an article of clothing out of the locker, and it knocked something to the floor. It was a bottle. Nick's eyes went wide when he saw it. He frantically looked around to make sure no one else was there. He grabbed the bottle, gripping it tightly. 

It was totally insane that I took this. It was a bad idea. I… I could get fired for this!

Nick's grip on the bottle became tighter, and his shaking intensified.

_ Maybe… maybe I could just take one pill. No, no! That's crazy. I can't do that. I've been clean for so long. Just put the bottle back in the locker. _

Nick began to breathe deeply, trying to calm himself down.

_ I should just put the bottle back, and then… _

_ Fuck. _

Nick was terrified. He had stolen evidence from a crime scene! And not just any evidence, drugs! This could very easily cost him his badge and his relationship with Judy.

_ Okay… Okay, Wilde, think. If you get caught with this, it's game over. But if you come clean… _

** _Still game over. You're screwed no matter what you do. Just take the bottle and disappear._ **

_ NO! No. I'm stronger than this. _

Nick threw the bottle into the locker and slammed it shut, locking it. He inhaled deeply, held it for a moment before exhaling. He finished getting dressed and met Judy in the hallway.

"Hey, Nick," she greeted. Then she noticed his expression. "Is everything okay?"

Nick shook his head. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm alright."

"Are you sure? You look a little down in the dumps."

Nick looked at Judy, and his expression softened. "Yeah. Just thinking about some stuff. Nothing major," he lied. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Judy asked.

"Not… not right now. How about we just go home?" He asked. 

"Alright," Judy let it drop. She figured that if it was important, he'd tell her. "So, just back home?" She asked.

"Yes. This whole day was… whew. A lot happened these last couple of days, huh?"

Judy nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Isn't it great!"

"Fluff, you and I have very different definitions of 'great,'" he replied. "For me, a 'great' day on the job is one where I have no open cases and get to spend the entire day playing on my phone."

"Lazy Fox."

"So, you want more crimes to be committed just to give you something to do?" He asked her.

"No! I just- I mean-" She sputtered and then narrowed her eyes. "Alright. You win this round, Wilde."

"I always do, Carrots, I always do."

***

Back at their shared apartment, Nick and Judy shared a meal in relative silence. Not an awkward silence, a comfortable one. After they finished eating, Nick went to go clean up and wash the dishes while Judy went to go take a shower. However, after a few minutes, He heard Judy playfully call his name from the bedroom.

"Nii~iick! Come here~!"

Nick followed her voice into the bedroom. "Everything okay, Carrots?" He asked her, looking around for her.

Judy was standing in the doorframe of the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe. Her fur was still dry, indicating that she hadn't showered yet. 

"So… I was thinking… Before I hop into the shower…" Judy opened the robe and let it drop to the floor, revealing her naked body underneath. "How about you give me a little more mess to wash off?" She flirted.

Nick remembered the first time he had ever seen Judy naked. The only thing that he had been able to think about was how it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. Now, more than a year later, the only thing he could think about was how naked Judy was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

"Well, my dear Carrots..." Nick was eager to accept her invitation, but his mind betrayed him. Carrots made him think of orange, orange made him think of pill bottles, and pill bottles made him think of the bottle of ketamine pills he had hidden back at the precinct. "I… I don't really feel up to it… sorry." 

Judy picked up her bathrobe. "Nick? Are you feeling alright?" She asked, concerned for her partner and boyfriend.

"Yeah… Yeah… I'm just tired is all. Helluva day," he explained.

Judy smiled and leaned in to kiss him. "Alright." She got up and went towards the bathroom. "But don't you dare think that being tired gets you out of cuddle duty," she teased. "I need my nightly dose of Nick cuddles."

"Don't worry, Fluff. I promise to give you all the cuddles you can handle," he flirted, hugging her tightly. He held her longer than he usually did, he didn't know if everything was about to come crashing down around him. And if he did, he wanted this memory. Just him and Judy together, sharing this one perfect moment. He kissed the top of her head and then let her go. "Don't take too long. I need my bunny snuggles too."

Judy giggled and closed the bathroom door behind her.

Nick undressed, stripping down to a pair of black boxer-briefs while he listened to the sound of the shower running. He climbed into bed and waited. A few moments later, Nick heard the sound of the fur dryer running. He propped his head up on one arm and laid down on his side as he waited for Judy to join him. He watched as she stepped out of the bathroom and slipped on a pair of boyshorts before joining Nick in bed.

Judy pressed her face into Nick's chest fluff and wrapped her arms around him. She nuzzled up to him for a moment before she was done. "Ahh… That's the good stuff," She sighed before she angled her head to look up at him. "Good night." She said before closing her and falling asleep.

Nick kissed the top of her head and fell asleep soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Another chapter has come and gone. Once again, I'd like to thank both Dakzoo and Gamerguy1992 for their support and their help. 
> 
> Writing a chapter and then proofreading it is an interesting experience. You find contradictions within the text that you have to go back and fix. It's a bit funny to see details not match up because you wrote part of this chapter weeks ago and simply forgot what you had written back then.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of this in a review. They really help me out and inspire me to get these chapters out. Also, keep an eye on the site for a new fic that I'm working on. I'll probably be posting it within the next couple of days. I'm super excited to see your reactions to that one as well.


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